Year: 2016

Rail Flicks by Thommy Johnson: EMDs in the Rockies Volume 1, The East End

April 2, 2016 Jim Pearson No Comments Rail Flicks, Tommy Johnson, Videos

Title – Montana Rail Link, EMDs in the Rockies Volume 1, The East End
Producer – C. Vision Productions
Format – DVD Wide Screen
Playing Time – 2 hrs.
Purchased From – Trainvideodepot.com
Date Purchased – 3/3/16
Price Paid – $26.95

Yes, my fellow Chapter members, yet another Montana Rail Link video review. Sorry, but I had short notice that we were going to resume my reviews and this is the best I can do for this month.

I have videos on the MRL by Pentrex, by Plets Express, by 7idea Productions, by Highball Productions, and now by C. Vision Productions. That might give you the impression that the Montana Rail Link is one of my favorite railroads. Yep, it is.

This is Volume 1, which covers the eastern half of the MRL, as the title indicates. MRL mainline Subdivisions 1 and 2 are included but we also see some of subdivisions 5, 6, and 13. We travel west from Jones Junction, the eastern terminus of the MRL, to Helena, MT, the western end of Subdivision 2.

Some of the geographic features we encounter are: the Yellowstone River, Bozeman Pass, Winston Hill, and Jefferson Canyon, a truly beautiful location.

The MRL put some SD-45’s back into service in 2014 and these are seen in action in this video.

C. Vision did a fantastic job in producing this video. Montana’s beautiful scenery is presented in wide screen format with top notch video quality. The railroad action is good with a variety of freight behind those gorgeous locomotives proudly displaying their deep blue MRL livery. Maps are used to keep the viewer aware of his location along the route and the narration keeps him informed about the action he is watching. I cannot think of any way that this video could have been improved. I highly recommend it.

I guarantee you that I will be purchasing Volume 2 when it becomes available.

Train Memories

April 2, 2016 Jim Pearson No Comments Bill Thomas

Bill Thomas 3To the left you see a picture of my Papaw (my mother’s father) holding me on his knee, about 1965.  Mamaw seems to be coaxing me to smile.  This shot was taken at my aunt’s and uncle’s home on Hog Jowl Road, Walker Co. GA, about 10 miles from the TAG (Tennessee, Alabama, and Georgia RR) as the crow flies.  I owe this man my interest in trains. He spent countless hours running me all over Chattanooga, TN, chasing trains.  I later learned he did the same to my mother.  I saw TVRM in its infancy but didn’t know it.  The Incline Rwy was always a special treat.  Southern’s Big John cement hoppers rumbled by their home in Redbank 2-3 times a day.  Precious memories.  Send me your memories in print and I’ll publish them for all to enjoy.  It’s a great way to share, inspire, and keep the memories alive!  – Bill Thomas, Editor

 

March 2016 From the President

April 2, 2016 Jim Pearson No Comments General Post

The Spill with President Bill, Chapter President

Well, it just seemed like last week and we were having our February meeting. We need to thank Ricky for getting the February program together for us. Rich did a good job on the refreshments; Blair Terry gave him a four star rating on the food. In other words, you did good, Rich. Our program this month will be brought to us by Ricky Bivins. We will have some guests from the former Owensboro, chapter of NRHS.

We have some exciting news about events and projects coming up in March and April. On March 28th we have a trip planned to the National Transportation Museum in St. Louis, MO. We have two 15-passenger vans lined up for those who would rather ride then drive. I say 15-passengers but the plan is to carry only 10 people per van. I believe the word we are looking for is “comfortable”. We will fill the seats on a first come first serve basis, so if you would like to go, let me know soon. The cost per member and or guest to take the van is $17.00 (per person). We will discuss this in more detail at the March meeting.

We now have some thirty DVDs for the chapter Video Library. Any member that would like to put a DVD in the library on loan please bring them to the next meeting. I noticed several members checking out movies last month. Until we get the number of DVDs up in the library members can only check out one per month.

April 11th is “Archeology Saturday”. The plan is to use metal detectors and go to a former location of a train depot in Hopkins County. We are going to list and catalog all the artifacts our club members unearth. These items can be placed in the case in the Parkway Plaza Mall or stored at the Hopkins County Historical Society. Now keep all that in mind, last Friday I called one of our chapter in house railroad historians, Wally Watts. I said, Wally lets go and find a depot site for “Archeology Saturday”, Wally said sound fine lets meet at Cracker Barrel. Once we got on the road, Wally dragged your President through the bowels of Hopkins County looking for sites where depots once stood. I don’t know how many times I hear Wally say, “I’ll sit in the car, you wade through that water and see what is over there”. “Wally it’s just more snow and ice”. All kidding aside we did find one very interesting site, I think you will find the pictures we have of the Nebo site very rewarding. Wally and I will have the pictures for the next meeting.

Do you have a digital camera? Well if not, maybe you can borrow one from a good friend. April 1st – 8th, the chapter plans on having a photography contest within the club. Jim Pearson, one of the chapter members will chair this event. It will be open to all our chapter members in good standing. The pictures you submit to Jim (by email) will have to be taken in Western Kentucky during the week of the contest. The theme is open so anything is game as long as it’s train related. Photos must be submitted by April 12th. Those members who are worried about Jim winning the photo contest need to know he will not be a contestant. We are still working on the prize to the winner. The most important thing in this event is, you have fun. In the case of Matt Gentry, he will be allowed to submit a picture from the west coast. At the end of the year we’ll use some of the photos to produce a calendar for 2017 which will be available for purchase.

Those who missed the last meeting, it was announced that the GarGraves track company has donated between 1,000.00 and 1,100.00 in track for the modular layout. We still have three module’s unspoken for, any member who wants to build one, let me know.

We need “Show & Tell” items and things for the raffle for the next meeting. Weather permitting I hope to see you on the 21st of March @ 7:00.

March 2016 Pickin’ the Points

April 2, 2016 Jim Pearson No Comments Bill Thomas, Photo Section, Pickin' the points

Picking the PointsHello Chapter members. First let me thank Matt Gentry for his work with the PennyRail over the last couple of years. Matt has had the publication rolling from afar—California to be exact. This is a difficult task to manage when you are in the area much less when out. I cannot imagine doing it from such distance, even with the high-tech gadgets we have at our disposal. Matt, thank you so much for your service to the chapter.

As we move ahead with this monthly document let me kindly remind you it is yours, not mine. I just organize the layout and content. I need all of you to submit material for printing. This includes railroad-related articles, pictures, stories, and other odds and ends you might consider for sharing. Feel free to use your smart-phone cameras. The higher the resolution the better. Please try to submit all material in digital format. If you do not have a word processor, just type your stories and/or articles in an email message and send it to me. If you have any technical problems, feel free to call, text, or email me with the information below.
Bill Thomas Cell: 270-339-9482
Text to the same number
Email: billtrainthomas@gmail.com
You can also message me on Facebook and Twitter.

Keep the news coming! Bill

Mystery Location – Where Are We?

April 2, 2016 Jim Pearson No Comments Bill Thomas, Chapter News

There is no submission for this feature this month. If you have a “spot” you’d like to submit, please do so. Get a photo that does not reveal the location. If you have an old photo but it contains the location, drop it off at Coldwell Banker Terry & Associates, 1096 North Main St, Madisonville, and I will scan it, then return the photo to you. I can “fuzz” out the identity if necessary. Please put your photo in an envelop clearly marked with my name, your name, phone number, email, etc. Mona Forker, our receptionist will put it in my mail box. You can email me a JPG of the photo also at: billtrainthomas@gmail.com

NRHS National Membership Benifits

April 2, 2016 Jim Pearson No Comments Chapter News, Rick Bivins
CSX Heritage unit! SCL no less. February 20, 2016 . - photo by Ricky Bivins
CSX Heritage unit! SCL no less. February 20, 2016 . – photo by Ricky Bivins

From Rick Bivins
Western Kentucky Chapter,
NRHS Chapter Representative.

Greetings Chapter Members,

As members of NRHS we have chosen to uphold the Charter requirements and by-laws of membership, both National by-laws and our own Chapter by-laws. The National by-laws can be found on the National web-site….not easily but they can be found. Wally Watts should have a copy or can produce a copy of the Chapter by-laws if requested. Our Charter was let in early 1985 and is still in effect even though the National organization has struggled. I was a member of NRHS before the Western Kentucky Chapter was formed….I chose to remain a member through thick and thin. I want my 50 year pin!

I begin with the above as much talk has been made of dropping our National Affiliation. Some members have voiced lack of return for their money….not true! For the money, via the National web-site, Facebook, Twitter, other forms of media and good old fashioned pen and paper, much can be obtained from National. The NRHS Bulletin has been on line for many years. Recently, the Bulletin has been published (again) in magazine form. The NRHS video library is extensive as well as the photo archive. One must put forth some effort to make use of these resources but they are worthy of time and postage. Or just browsing on-line!

So please, if you as a member are discouraged or dissatisfied with the NRHS and feel there isn’t enough “bang for the buck”….take time to see if you are missing something. You may be surprised to learn that, indeed, you are.

The easiest way to access NRHS via the internet is to open a web based browser and type NRHS. Ignore the North Rochelle High School page!!!!! And choose the second offering!

Explore and enjoy.

Rick Bivins

March 14, 2016 – A Paducah and Louisville Railway empty ballast train at Dawson Springs, Ky

April 2, 2016 Jim Pearson No Comments Jim Pearson, Photo Section
Jim Pearson 1
March 14, 2016 – A Paducah and Louisville Railway empty ballast train heads south, past the signals at the north end of the siding at Dawson Springs, Ky, on it’s way to Grand Rivers to pickup a load of rock, with units PAL 3808, GATX/GMTX 2207, 2698 and PAL 2125. – Tech Info: 1/1250 | f/6.3 | ISO 200 | Lens: Sigma 150-600 @ 600mm on a Nikon D800 shot and processed in RAW. Photo and caption by Jim Pearson

March 2016 – The Spill with President Bill

March 11, 2016 Jim Pearson No Comments Bill Farrell

By Chapter President, Bill Farrell
Western Kentucky Chapter/NRHS

Well, for those who didn’t know Bill Thomas has stepped forward and volunteered to become the news letter editor. We need to thank Matt for the great job he did while assuming the duties as editor of the “Pennyrail”. Any information you may have concerning the club or club business needs to be forwarded to Bill Thomas in the future. I’m sure Bill will have more information at the next meeting.

In the February meeting we had fair attendance considering the weather conditions. I hope we have better weather for the March 21 meeting. In the February meeting we passed out the new club cards to those members who were current on their dues. The membership cards that are remaining will be mailed to those members who are not present after the March meeting.

Under new business, we discussed the progress of the modular layout and set a work day. The layout construction phase is within two or three hours of being finished. All we have left is some plaster cloth and laying track on each module. Then those members who wanted a module can take them home. I received an email from Ricky Bivins concerning the layout and what are the rules for construction. At this time we do not have any rules and it will be necessary to have those individuals working on the layout to set up some structure to follow. The problem is we need to get all those interested individuals together to write the rules.

We also discussed the possibility of a trip to KRM (Kentucky Railroad Museum) sometime in April. The most logical date for the trip is Saturday April 9th. It will coincide with a model train show at St. Catherine’s Junior College, not far from KRM.

We also talked about doing a Toy Train Christmas display at the Parkway Plaza Mall in Madisonville. Jim Kemp had stepped forward and volunteered to chair this event. This will not be a one or two man show but in fact will require several members to help. So if Jim calls you to help please say yes as this will be a club effort.